Big changes coming

If January is any indication of how the rest of 2026 is going to go, then buckle up!

There is a renowned restaurant in La Jolla called "The Marine Room" and on King Tides the waves break directly ONTO the windows. It has been all over my instagram feed since we got to Miramar. Go google it, the internet is FILLED with videos, reels, photos, etc...apparently their windows are built with the same glass as Shamu's pool at Sea World!  

We have been making a concerted effort to try and eat at some of the "can't miss" places before we leave this summer, and this place was high on the list. We finally got lucky and booked a reservation during a King Tide. We were so excited. The couple who planned to join us couldn't make it, so we decided to take the girls.  Lilly turned 21 back in November, so this was our first experience of having her join us for a drink, which meant that Lucy was driving home! 

Sadly, even though it was a King Tide, the waves only break against the windows in the summer months. So instead of seeing this while we are dining, which I am sure is loud and probably a bit disconcerting...

We had this view. The waves were still lapping up against the building by the end of our dinner which made me a little uneasy after all the storm surges I have witnessed over the years. So maybe we can get another reservation before we pull out of here.

    

Speaking of King Tides, the girls encouraged us to head down to the tide pools at La Jolla Shores to check out all the amazing sea life that is exposed at low tide, so we decided to do a quick strike. Looks like everyone else in San Diego had the same idea. I couldn't believe the number of people that were all over the shore/rocks/beach. It was crazy! We saw lots of sea anemones, mussels, sea stars, lobsters, a few octopuses and several Spanish Shaw Nudibranchs. Lucy got an incredible video of it. 

    

I think the strangest thing we saw was this guy. He kind of looks like King Arthur from the Monty Python Holy Grail movie without the coconut horse. Maybe he was supposed to represent the "King" in the King Tide. He just kind of stood on that rock for a while and then wandered away. Strange.

        

We also walked over the mushroom house that sits at the end of Blacks Beach. It is notoriously known as a party spot but it was originally a guest house for the heirs of General Mills. It is still private property despite it sitting below a cliff and directly on the beach. Apparently we were trespassing when we went inside - oops! It is a shame it has been vandalized to the point of it being unsafe, because it really is a cool space.

    

We got a final family shot. Not sure when we are all going to be together again - hopefully in February for Ben's birthday.

Next up is Ben's football banquet. I can't believe his high school football days are over. It has been amazing to see his transformation into a young man here at Scripps and Jim and I enjoyed every minute of watching him play. He has made some lifelong friends on that team as well, and he isn't the only one! Jim and I will miss the other football parents and I have a feeling we will be keeping tabs on Scripps Ranch Football for a while.

    

Another restaurant we have been trying to book for months is Starlite! We wanted to have a large group dinner there this fall, but couldn't make it happen due to the scheduling challenges and popularity of this spot.  We had all but given up ... then our fabulous neighbors asked us to join them and we JUMPED at the chance! The space is so beautiful and the menu complements it perfectly! It was a great night and I hope we can make it back at least once more before we move.

        

        

Lucy sent us these pictures of a surprise 1/2 birthday party her friends threw her. She has often lamented that she has only experienced one or two birthday parties with her friends and they were all when she was under the age of 5. Since her birthday is in July, we are typically moving (our next summer move is our 6th in the past 8 years), so it's a bad date for a teenage birthday. We typically celebrate Lucy's birthday with family and sometimes we celebrate it several months early in order for her to even have a party. So this small gesture from her college friends really really really made her happy!

        

Meanwhile, Jim & I got to catch up with the Landherrs who we just missed seeing in Hawaii. They stayed at the same resort about a week apart! Next time we will have to coordinate better. 

MLK weekend, Lucy headed up to San Francisco to hang out and see all the things and of course had to go to the Buena Vista Cafe for an Irish Coffee. I asked her if she redid any of the things from our Thanksgiving visit back in 2015. She surprised me by saying "Of Course!" Hahaha I think they rode the street cars and stumbled upon a fortune cookie "factory." She said they also spent more time down in Haight-Ashbury area, which we avoided with young children. 

    

    

Lilly also got out of town for an extended weekend with her friends. They drove up to San Luis Obispo and spent several days hiking and taking in the sights before meeting up with Lucy for a quick visit on their way back to Los Angeles. I love that they take the time to meet up whenever they can.

Ben spent the long weekend surfing/hanging out with his friends and studying, although I am not sure how much studying was actually happening. Jim and I decided we were going to check out the sunset every night and boy did it not disappoint! We even took Wesley on a few of the evenings. I think the beauty was lost on him, but he enjoyed the car ride and herding us down the path all the same.

    

 

The last night of our weekend of sunsets, Ben and Jim decided to go surfing and I got to take some photos of their sunset surfing session. The waves weren't that great, but the sunset was SPECTACULAR! Boy are we going to miss this place. 

     

    

Late in January, I made a quick trip up to LA to see Lilly and drop off some essentials that she somehow forgot to take back to LA after the winter break. She will be doing quite a bit of camping/skiing in the coming weeks and needed these items. It doesn't take much for me to find a reason to drive up and see either of the girls, so this was an easy decision. We dropped off her skis at REI to get waxed and  made a Costco run ... Pretty productive day despite sitting in traffic for WAY longer than I really wanted.

Lilly repaid me for my troubles by sharing photos from a Wilderness Club camping trip to Red Rocks State Park near Las Vegas AND her Galentines party with friends ... and she even authorized me to use these cute pics! 

    

Ben rounded out the first month of 2026 by competing in the Mr. Scripps Ranch contest. I am not entirely sure how he ended up getting roped into this, but he did it with two of his friends and I am pretty sure there was a girlfriend involved in pressuring them to sign up - Ha! The contest was divided into two main categories - talent and short interview. Ben and his two friends sang "Shut up and Dance with Me" by Walk the Moon with each of them on vocals and ending it with Ben and Kasen doing back flips and Caden a cartwheel. Always a crowd pleaser! The interview portion mainly consisted of 3 randomly drawn questions.     

The ten contests were whittled down to five and then after another opportunity to answer the same question, the group was narrowed down to three. The judges deliberated and chose Ben and his friend Kasen as the two finalist. 

After yet another question the judges gave their final decision.

Ben won! I am not exactly sure what Mr. Scripps Ranch does or even what he won, but he was excited and it was pretty funny, so there is that.

To close out this edition, we come to the "big change" teased in the title. Jim will be giving up command of 3rd MAW next month. Three months early! He will then move back to DC and start his next job at the Pentagon! Ben and I will stay in San Diego until June so he can graduate ... more details to follow.